Xavier Smith (born September 21, 1997) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida A&M Rattlers and was signed by the Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2023.
| No. 19 – Los Angeles Rams | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born: | September 21, 1997 Haines City, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight: | 176 lb (80 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school: | Haines City (Haines City) | ||||||||||
| College: | Florida A&M (2017–2022) | ||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2023 | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 8, 2024 | |||||||||||
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Early life
editSmith was born on September 21, 1997, in Haines City, Florida.[1] He attended Ridge Community High School, then transferred to Haines City High School where he played running back.[2][3] Being small, at 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m) and 155 pounds (70 kg), and without significant statistics, he received no offers to play college football.[4] He developed a highlight film and contacted over 100 college coaches, but received no interest.[4] After he graduated from Haines City, he initially quit playing football, spending 2016 working with Amazon.[4]
College career
editSmith applied for Florida A&M University in 2017 at the suggestion of his mother, who had attended there.[4] After being accepted, he tried out for the Florida A&M Rattlers football team as a walk-on and ultimately made the team.[4] His brother, Kareem, had previously played with the Rattlers, and Smith wore the same jersey number 19 as his brother had.[3] Smith redshirted as a true freshman in 2017, being a member of the scout team, while becoming a wide receiver.[4] In 2018, he broke out with 52 receptions for 727 yards, being the team leader in both categories as well as a second-team All-Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) selection.[2]
In 2019, Smith totaled 77 catches for 1,159 yards and 11 touchdowns, being fifth nationally in receiving yards per game, ninth in receptions per game, 10th in receiving yards and 16th in touchdown catches.[2][5] He received several honors including first-team All-MEAC, BoxToRow All-American, second-team American Football Coaches Association] (AFCA) All-American, and HERO Sports sophomore All-American.[5] The 2020 season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]
Smith recorded 64 catches for 713 yards and three touchdowns in the 2021 season, being the team leader in receiving and placing sixth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).[2][5] As a senior in 2022, he caught 87 passes for 1,021 yards and 11 touchdowns, being named an HBCU All-American and All-SWAC while leading the conference in receiving.[4][6] He ended his collegiate career with 44 games played and 193 catches for 2,599 yards.[2] He was invited to the HBCU Legacy Bowl all-star game following the 2022 season, where he caught six passes for 85 yards and a touchdown while being named the offensive MVP.[4][7]
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9+1⁄8 in (1.76 m) |
174 lb (79 kg) |
29+1⁄4 in (0.74 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) |
4.48 s | 1.52 s | 2.52 s | 4.16 s | 7.19 s | 36.5 in (0.93 m) |
9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) |
13 reps | |
| All values from HBCU Combine/Pro Day[8] | ||||||||||||
After going unselected in the 2023 NFL draft, Smith signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent.[9] He was waived at the final roster cuts and subsequently re-signed to the practice squad.[10] After having spent the entire season on the practice squad, he signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams on January 16, 2024.[11]
Smith was waived by the Rams on August 27, 2024, and re-signed to the practice squad.[12] He was elevated to the active roster on September 21, and made his NFL debut the following day in Week 3 against the San Francisco 49ers. With under a minute remaining in the game and the score tied, Smith's 38-yard punt return to midfield helped set up the Rams' game-winning field goal. He was signed to the active roster on October 17.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Xavier Smith Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ a b c d e "Xavier Smith". Los Angeles Rams.
- ^ a b Thomas III, Gerald (November 2, 2022). "ShineTime: FAMU football receiver Xavier Smith is a Bragg Memorial Stadium legend". Tallahassee Democrat.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Davenport, Turron (April 6, 2023). "From Amazon to NFL hopeful: How FAMU's Xavier Smith turned dreams to reality". ESPN.
- ^ a b c "Xavier Smith". Florida A&M Rattlers.
- ^ Thomas III, Gerald (February 20, 2023). "Turn on the Jets! FAMU football receiver Xavier Smith reacts to combine 40-yard dash". Tallahassee Democrat.
- ^ "Florida A&M's Xavier Smith continues to make the most of his opportunity". WTXL-TV. March 31, 2023.
- ^ "Xavier Smith College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ "Florida A&M: Xavier Smith signs with Los Angeles Rams". WTXL-TV. April 30, 2023.
- ^ Jackson, Stu (August 31, 2023). "Rams sign 16 players to initial practice squad for 2023 season". Los Angeles Rams.
- ^ Jackson, Stu (January 15, 2024). "Rams sign 15 players to Reserve/Future contracts". Los Angeles Rams.
- ^ Jackson, Stu (August 28, 2024). "Rams sign 17 players to initial practice squad for 2024 season". TheRams.com.
- ^ Stone, Daniel. "Random Ramsdom: Xavier Smith signs to the active roster". SB Nation. Retrieved 18 October 2024.